Above is part of my stash...hard to see in such a tiny photo, I know, but there are the little white cherubs, eight of them, the weird glass bottle shape, the scary skull, the metal curlique, the elephant, Dutch shoe, interesting frame (for needlework, I think, but I can certainly envision something in there), the little Chinese pot, and a couple other things.
And here, the dark, tall carved Indonesian box, a rain stick, the 3 cats, a decorative box, a toy cash register (just like one I had as a child...very broken but with good pieces inside as you will see), and the ray shape at the top.
After about an hour of trying to disassemble the toy cash register (they definitely made toys to last long ago...everything out of metal, securely riveted together), I got the nice little pile of keys which you can barely see lower left), and those great pop-up metal numbers...and the red metal pieces. I often use a little red in my pieces in my mostly dark art, so I am sure these will get used at some point.
As I was leaving the bins, one of the "regulars" that I see
there all the time came over to me and offered me this.
He said it was an Indonesian egg box, but actually I
think it is that game that I can't remember the name of
(see interior photo). Obviously, it is all hand carved.
Then there was the elephant.... The "regular" who gave me the box above said he had had this in his cart but then put it back, which explained me finding it on a return visit to a bin I had already been through. He/she needs a little work, but I find it quite appealing in its own right. The elephant will hang from the crossbar, and there is a little wooden "clanger" which will fit inside the elephant to make a wooden bell.
As I was putting things away, I couldn't resist playing with a few of my new pieces. No matter what I come across, I always find new inspiration in all the disparate pieces of detritus I bring home. I loved the 3-cat base this is sitting on as well as the broken but very interesting glass shape (broken off top and bottom from whatever it used to be) as well as the scary skull. They are all just sitting together to pose for the photo.
I'm going to add a photo of tonight's sunset for you. The photo doesn't really show how brilliant the colors were though...
Happy Thanksgiving!